I Scammed A Pyramid Scheme - YouTube

- What kind of person make their own scam business

and then tricks their friends into joining?

How do people fall for something

that is obviously too good to be true?

Back in 2012, I got to find out.

Everything I'm about to tell you is 100% true

and filled with a bunch of bad decisions on my part,

so I've changed some of the names and specifics.

So, here we go.

I'm 26, working in New York City, when I get

a random Facebook message from a guy named Daniel.

I've never met him before, but it shows

we went to the same high school, so I read his message.

Hey Jeffrey, I am working with a local business team

in online distribution currently.

We're growing quite a bit and we're looking for

one or two ambitious individuals.

Right off the bat, it sounded pretty scammy,

so I told him I was interested.

On the phone, he tells me he's looking for

a few go-getters to start a business of their own.

He says it would be easy for me,

I could work in my spare time at home

as often or as little as I'd like.

If I was interested, he wanted me to meet with his boss.

I had a lot of questions.

What kind of business was this exactly?

Uh, my boss can tell you more when you speak with him.

And what is the name of your company?

I'll explain everything when you meet my boss.

I've gotten a vague promise of money

and literally no other information.

So I tell him I'm in.

Flash forward to the day of the meeting.

To prep, I create a fake resume and put it in a folder

with a picture of Bill Gates to really impress them.

I bought a $20 oversized suit at Goodwill

along with a pair of bright yellow running shoes.

I tell my real coworkers where I'm going

and that if they don't hear from me in two hours,

get worried.

At the hotel, Daniel is waiting for me in the lobby

in a navy blue suit, completely alone.

Let's go meet everybody.

Everybody, who is everybody?

I thought we were just meeting his boss.

We get into the elevator and to my surprise,

Daniel hits the down button.

Down, what on Earth could be underneath

the lobby of this hotel?

For the first time, I start to get really nervous.

The doors open and I am stunned.

We walk into a massive ballroom

with what's gotta be like 200 people.

There is a stage with tons of chairs

and a bunch of other people wearing the exact same

navy suit as Daniel.

I have no idea what's going on.

Daniel tells me a presentation will be starting shortly

and takes me to the seats

where there's a bunch of other people

who look like they're in the same situation as me.

I immediately turn to the person sitting next to me

and ask do you have any idea what is going on?

She says she's not sure, it's just a business opportunity.

Do you know the person who invited you here?

"Not really," she says.

The person on the other side of me

says the exact same thing.

What is going on here?

Who are these people?

Why did they come to this event?

Who in the world would come to this

with no information at all?

The lights dim and one of the navy suits gets on stage

and tells us we are in for a very special treat today.

He introduces a man named Joseph

and all of the navy suits erupt into a huge applause,

cheering and howling like this man is some kind of a god.

Joseph walks up to the microphone

and proceeds to spend the next 15 minutes

telling us about what a great life he has.

He's 35 years old, his business is at the diamond level.

He works three hours a week and makes $150,000 a year.

He goes on vacation all the time.

He's got a beautiful wife.

He's retiring in the next two years,

and then he tells us the most important thing of all.

This could be all of you.

Me, me? (gasps)

He starts pointing to people in the crowd.

What would you do with an extra $100 a month?

What would you do with an extra $1,000 a month?

At this point, about 30 minutes have passed

and the only thing he's really talked about

is how good money is

when he finally tells us about the opportunity.

You'd be starting your own business

that sells home goods and beauty products.

Instead of going to the store to buy them,

you'd buy them from yourself.

Hey, you got some friends who need these?

They can buy them from you too.

Why would they support a big corporation

when they can support a friend?

If someone you know joins your business,

you get a percentage of whatever they make.

It's easy money, you don't even have to do anything for.

Joseph tells us we'll make the diamond level in no time.

The audience is eating it up,

they cannot wait to hear more.

This sounded like a pyramid scheme to me.

The sleazeballs at the top of the company

make a ton of money as long as a bunch of suckers

keep signing up below them.

These unfortunate people will keep putting their own money

into this business, losing more money

than they'll ever make.

By now, Joseph is wrapping up his presentation.

He tells us he knows we're super excited,

but that we shouldn't go telling our friends

or family about anything yet.

They might have questions that we don't know

the answers to and it's better off if we just wait.

He says goodbye and the navy suits

give another excessive round of applause.

Everyone stands up and Daniel makes his way back over to me.

So, what do you think?

It sounds amazing.

I can see the dollar signs light up in his eyes.

He takes me back to the lobby

and tells me to hang tight while he grabs an info packet.

While I'm waiting there, I watch as two navy suits

walk across the entire room

and stand like two feet away from me.

So, what level are you at?

I just got to platinum.

Wow, and you've only been doing this for three months.

And then, they walked away.

They came across the entire room

and stood two feet next to me

just so I could overhear that.

Daniel returns in gives me the info packet.

It's titled Creating Choices, A Business of Your Own,

and the very first page has a picture of a sailboat

on the ocean with the caption

imagine where life can take you.

The book then goes on to a diagram of their business model,

which is actually shaped like a pyramid.

It also shows that the only thing you need to do

to start your own business is pay $200

to get your very own website.

You gotta pay to play, right?

He puts the pressure on me to do it right then and there,

but I tell him I need a week to consider it.

He says "okay," but he warns me not to google anything

about the company, so of course I google the company

and immediately my browser is filled with horror stories.

People talk about losing their life savings.

One lady even wrote about her brother

trying to recruit people at their father's funeral.

He was a great man,

and these are great products.

Some people call it a cult.

They brainwash people to convert

their entire lives to this company.

They convince you it's not a scam

and they train you how to reply to anybody who says it is.

They have a very special way they want you to

run your business, and it can only be learned

by purchasing their books and DVDs

and paying to go to their seminars.

So it's a week later and I'm meeting Daniel in a cafe.

I get a little nervous when he gets right down to business.

When I say I don't know if I'm gonna have enough

time to do this, you could work as little

or as much as you like.

When I say I'm not good at sales,

we have specialized training

and we can teach you how to succeed.

When I say I'm not sure I wanna spend $200

on something right now,

actually, the startup fee is $300.

(record scratches) Wait wait wait, $300?

The packet says $200.

Oh, yes, the $200 starts up your website,

but there's an extra $100 needed

to get you your first training books and videos.

Eh, I don't think I need those.

Oh, but it's the only way our business owners

can be successful.

Did you buy them?

Of course.

Well,

then can I just borrow them from you?

Huh?

I can see nobody has ever asked him this before.

He gets flustered for just a moment,

but then jumps right back in.

No, no, no, it's really recommended

that you buy your own.

Why?

Well, if you borrowed mine, everyone would want to,

and there wouldn't be enough to go around.

I tell him I'm a really fast reader

and I even read most of of the Harry Potter

books in a single weekend.

Are any of your training books

as long as a Harry Potter book?

Then it wouldn't really be difficult

for me to read these quickly.

Right.

So, I can just borrow yours?

And I can't believe it, he says

I, I guess.

I'm using logic to get out of paying him money.

I can tell that's not what he wants.

He wants someone who's not gonna ask questions.

I could see that for Daniel's sake,

I should stop wasting his time.

It's either join his team

or tell him I was messing with him.

So I do the only proper thing.

I abruptly leave.

Over the next few years, every now and then,

I'd get little reminders of this company.

I actually know someone else from high school

who joined and lost a lot of money.

So after two years, I decide, hey,

maybe I should check in with Daniel again.

Hey Daniel, how are things with the business?

Did I make a mistake by not joining you?

Business has been cooking like never before.

Well, to tell you the truth, I can't say you haven't

missed out, but then again,

sometimes the timing just isn't right for people.

To be honest, I was a little bit surprised

he was still with the company, but

I guess that means he was making money.

I guess it goes to show you should never give up

on your dream, even if your dream is scamming people.

(triumphant music)

(upbeat music)

- [Man] Hey guys, we're--

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